Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival (Czech: Mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů Ji.hlava), known as MFDF Ji.hlavaorJi.hlava IDFF, is a documentary film festivalinJihlava, Czech Republic, normally held in late October. The 28th edition of the festival will run from 25 October to 3 November 2024.[1]
The festival was founded in 1997 by a group of Jihlava high school students led by Marek Hovorka, who has been the director of the festival since then. Since 2001, the festival has been organised by the Jihlava Association of Amateur Filmmakers, which in 2015 was renamed DOC.DREAM - the Association for the Support of Documentary Cinema.[2] Ji.hlava IDFF is a co-founder of Doc Alliance, a coalition of seven European documentary film festivals.
Over 86,000 people viewed films during the 2022 festival – more than 36,000 directly in cinemas and almost 50,000 online.[3] More than 1,000 film professionals took part in the Ji.hlava Industry Programme, which includes projects such as Emerging Producers, Festival Identity,[4] and Conference Fascinations.[5] In 2022, the festival presented 376 films.[6]
The main festival consists of 6 competition sections:
Opus Bonum - Best World Documentary Film
Aside from the main award, the jurors of Opus Bonum also hand out awards for the best cinematography, editing, sound design, outstanding formats such as the best film essay, best debut, and the best film from the region of Central and Eastern Europe (Between the Seas).
Czech Joy - Best Czech Documentary Film
Fascinations - Best World Experimental Documentary Film
Fascinations: Exprmntl.cz - Best Czech Experimental Documentary Film
Short Joy - Best Short Documentary Film
Testimonies - Best films on politics, nature and knowledge / an international competition for best documentaries with historical and political cross-over, on ecological and environmental topic or documentary that expands the non-fiction genre.
The festival annually nominates one film to be added to the pre-selection for the European Film Academy (EFA) award for Best Documentary Film of the Year. Also, the winners of the Short Joy award are eligible for the pre-selection for the Documentary Short Subject category of the Academy Awards.
Alongside the competitions sections, the festival presents a number of non-competition sections covering different areas of documentary film. The regular non-competition sections are:
Another feature of the festival is its accompanying programme, comprising thematic exhibitions, awards for the best festival poster, music and theatre performances, authors' readings, radio documentaries and documentary theatre plays.
Ji.hlava IDFF organises various activities throughout the year. It works closely with six other European documentary film festivals through the Doc Alliance, and participated in DOC.STREAM projects for film professionals, Eastern European documentary East Silver Market, and, in collaboration with the Czech Institute of Documentary Film, the Ex Oriente Film project.
DOC.DREAM, the organiser of the festival, is also a publisher, and runs the online dok.revue portal, dedicated to theory and criticism of documentary film.
The Ji.hlava Industry Programme comprises events aimed at film professionals. The section includes:
Emerging Producers - an educational and networking project promoting European documentary film producers
Docu Talents From the East - a panel showcasing creative documentary projects from Central and Eastern Europe in the production or post-production phase, held annually since 2004. It has been organized in cooperation with Sarajevo Film Festival since 2017.
Festival Identity - a workshop and knowledge exchange for film festival organisers
Inspiration Forum - a platform bringing together documentary film directors with personalities from outside the film community such as scientists, writers, artists, activists, and philosophers
Conference Fascinations - a conference focusing on experimental film distribution
Visegrad Accelerator - a platform for meeting of Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Slovak film professionals, state institutions and media representatives
Ji.hlava New Visions Forum & Market - a pitching and market for European and U.S. documentary projects in the development, production and post-production stages.
Ji.hlava Academy - an information and networking platform open to emerging filmmakers in non-fiction contemporary cinema.
Ji.hlava IDFF participates in a number of educational activities:
Center for Documentary Film - a creative space in Jihlava Dukla cinema dedicated to the study of documentary cinematography
Media & Documentary - a workshop for film science and journalism students focused on writing about documentary film, taking place during the Ji.hlava IDFF
